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East Orange prom queen was dead 'for hours,' police still hunting for ex-boyfriend

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Aquilla Flood, a 17-year-old high school senior who was recently voted prom queen by her class, was shot and killed in her home Wednesday morning. Prosecutors have charged 18-year-old Almuqqadin Means, who students described as Flood's ex-boyfriend, with her murder.
(Facebook)

EAST ORANGE — As authorities continue their manhunt for the ex-boyfriend of an East Orange high school prom queen who was shot and killed just 10 days before her graduation, investigators today made public for the first time a more detailed timeline of the night of her death.

Aquilla Flood, 17, was killed several hours before her mother discovered her Wednesday morning in the bedroom of their North Grove Street apartment, said Anthony Ambrose, chief of detectives for the Essex County Prosecutor's Office. Prosecutors issued a warrant on Thursday for 18-year-old Almuqqadin Means of East Orange, charging him in the girl's murder.

Several students described Means as Flood's ex-boyfriend, and Flood's aunt said the girl was told by her mother to "stay away" from Means after he ran into trouble with the law in recent weeks. Criminal records show Means was arrested at least twice for robbery, theft and conspiracy over the past two months.

Two law enforcement sources said Means entered the apartment sometime after midnight, after Flood's mother had gone to sleep. A surveillance camera outside the apartment building shows Means leaving the building in the middle of the night, the sources said.

The sources did not reveal the exact time Flood died, or when Means left the apartment. Both requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case.

On Thursday, three sources told the newspaper Flood was killed by a gunshot wound to the head.